Count It: Seven Home Games Left

Time is running out. Fans, our Oakland Athletics 2010 season is winding down…

Starting today, Monday September 20, the A’s begin their final 7-game homestand with three games against the Chicago White Sox, followed by four games against the division-leading Texas Rangers.

I’ve said this now for a month, but fans, it’s time to stop procrastinating and putting off your visit to the Coliseum. With only seven home games left, the time is now to show your green an gold pride!

Here’s a short collection of photos from the last month, showing off some of our Super Fans at the ballpark…

A berth in the playoffs would be nearly impossible for the A’s to achieve at this point in the season, but that doesn’t mean the 2010 campaign has been a disappointment. We’ve seen an impressive showing from all five, improbably young pitchers in our starting rotation and some great hitting and base-stealing efforts from the lineup. Also, let’s not forget how the 2009 season ended and how far we’ve come. Last year, we finished last in the division, 22 games behind the division-leading Angels.

This fan, David, in the two photos above comes to every game as if the team is playing for a playoff berth. A serious A’s follower, he’s always decked out in green and gold, his special, superstitious pants, and of course, his glove to catch homerun balls. In the photo to the right, you can see David diving for one of Coco Crisp’s long balls. Awesome enthusiasm! The crummy part is that he didn’t even get the ball!! Better luck next time, David.

So fans, I hope to see you at the Coliseum this week. Let’s send our team off for the final roadtrip with love and support from our fan base. And hey, you never know…we’re only nine games back!!

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Look at that stupid glove. LOOK at that stupid glove! No wonder I missed the ball. It’s bending BACKWARDS on my leg!

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh my goodness.

I need to put Coco’s glove from that game on a birthday list or something. That would be SO much more meaningful than the ball. Screw the ball. I was going to give it away anyways. I need Coco’s glove. Kara, is there any way to arrange for him to deliver it to me on the 25th?

Oh man! I need to bury that glove in the back yard and put a tombstone on it that says “RIP the original wallball glove” because that’s all it was good for. If I don’t catch a ball in the EXACT middle of the glove, I don’t think I have a chance at anything. I checked it out today, and that’s the only secure spot on the thing, the exact middle. Wow.

This is an addition to last comment, in case it doesn’t show up (the last one was long)

And there WILL BE a next time. Good or bad glove, any ball that comes near that area I’m going to swallow up with whatever I got. I’m training for this like never before. It’s gonna be like the wallball version of Rocky IV outside B-gate before every game from now till season’s end. You’ll actually hear Eye of the Tiger amongst others.

Season’s over at long last. Thought I’d follow up to my 2nd comment there. (TWO comments? REALLY??? Where’s all the A’s Fans??????)

I only ended up “training for this like never before” outside B-gate for the first two days of that last homestand. Why only 2 days? Because I worked so hard that I ran my calves into the ground. The first day, I sweated so much that there was not a single dry spot left on any of my clothing…. shirt, undershirt, pants, hat, everything. It’s like I dipped myself head to toe in a barrel of 100% pure sweat. The second day, I worked so hard that by the end of it, I could not even walk without experiencing calf pain and anytime I landed on them in the slightest form, I felt a threatening sting. Had I spent even one more day preparing, they would have turned into stone and then I wouldn’t been able to use them period.

Then once they recovered near the end of the homestand, I had to use them for other things. I had some running around to do before the games ;-)

No season-ending blog huh? Makes sense. Might as well end it on top right? Quit while you’re ahead? Go out on a high note? {insert cliche HERE}. heh… Who wants to talk about the Giants anyways, right? Or the Encarnacion deal?

You know… I’d bet my life for a ham sandwich that there is no individual on the face of this planet happier about that deal than I am. Even now. Now that I know… I’m still happy about that. Just another amazing coincidence. Probably the clearest. Next to the Coco ball (which I think the A’s OWE me back now, given the incredible year I’ve had and the story behind it), that was the most meaningful one to me. Made me look at a certain person differently from that day forward. Pity is… I never got the chance to tell them why. Because I just had a tremendous amount of respect for them all season long, a tremendous amount of self-doubt that I was struggling with, and I wanted to do everything right. Every last thing. So I just put on my best poker-face and had faith. I’ll never forget that. Even now. I’ll never forget the faith I had, and how it led me to feel, for the first time ever in my life.

That’s person’s name… I can’t say. Because I’m still doing it. I have to keep the respect up. I have to do things right. But just for the sake of saying something… and not appearing like a crazy person to everybody who reads this… let’s give’um a name. Let’s call “him or her”…

Zdeno Chara

That’s right the hockey player. CHARA.

A’s, if you’re reading this, I WANT THAT BALL BACK. And there are 3 signatures that belong on it. Coco’s. Mine. And Zdeno Chara. CHARA.

Oh yeah, one last thing. From now on, I’m giving away EVERY LAST BALL I catch to the nearest little kid. Every time. Call it a self-imposed legal obligation. Why? Because I could give away 10,000 homerun balls the rest of my life, and it WILL NEVER be as selfless as an act as I’m doing now. That’s nothing. Nothing at all.

That “interesting story behind it” that I mentioned up there… I was referring to everything I’d been through in life in the year LEADING UP TO the 2010 A’s baseball season, as well as the thing I was intending to do all season long with the ball had I caught it. NOT referring to anything between me and Zdeno Chara. That’s not the story. Don’t want to get Zdeno in trouble. “He” was awesome. Best part of the year, I won’t lie… but Zdeno Chara needs to go on and play a lot of hockey, make a lot of hip checks, score some goals, support the team, be a captain, and be that shining example that surprised the holy heck out of me all season long. I don’t care if it was just the job or the person (like I once asked, for a definite purpose). I’m impressed by both. Changed as a person by both for the better. I needed that in my life. And I wouldn’t do it over any differently. Zdeno Chara is THE best hockey player that the Boston Bruins (I think he’s still on) could ever have.

The main reason I’m making this post, is because now that I’ve had time to reflect on absolutely EVERY last detail of the situation, I have to have that ball back. It’s the key piece of some life-changing events for me. Plus, that ball was a fraction of an inch away from being one of the best fan-moments the A’s stadium had ever seen. Had it landed in my mit instead of the camera-platform, you would have seen a massive celebration, and I would have hiked my rear-end up to the top of 131 and given it to that 5-year old girl. No joke. Don’t believe me? Ask Chara. “He” was the only person in the world who understood what I was really about all season long… and although “he” never knew it… well that just meant the world to me. For a guy to have that feeling… it’s priceless. A whole stadium, a whole sports organization, and a whole WORLD that has no clue what you’re doing… and yet the most amazing person sitting right next to you does. And loves it. That’s why. That’s only ONE reason why.

So yeah, this is my of asking for the ball by peaceful means. But if I have to, I’ll get a petition signed by every last A’s fan who walks into that stadium on Opening Day 2011. And I bet 99.9% of them will agree that I deserve that ball. I bet I could get 100% of them if I mention Chara, and the effect that had on me… but like I said… Zdeno Chara needs to go on and play some good hockey. It’s “him” and “his” needs first, not mine. That’s the biggest change right there. And to quote a popular movie that I USED to think was a little overrated…

“Through this fight… I saw a lot of changes. The way that you’s felt about me. And the way that I felt about you. And if I could change, and you can change… EVERYBODY CAN CHANGE!”

I don’t know what’s taking more strength… working up the muster to post this… or… no definitely coming out of that whole ordeal took more strength…. definitely….. (If I say it didn’t, then it might happen again! It’s all about superstition now, LOL!)

You know… when I took that dive…. many eons ago…. and left that park on Sept 26th feeling like an athlete who had just lost the championship (watching the other team celebrate, sitting butt on the concrete in front of my seat, staring blankly at the scoreboard, glove over mouth in utter disbelief…) I left that stadium, and I did NOT….

not, not, NOT picture any of this happening!

I wake up everyday a changed man, and say “Really? Did it all just happen? I don’t know what’s more unbelievable anymore, the season or the OFFseason!” It’s hilarious. What a ride. I’m even starting to wonder who’s more changed now, me or her?

In the beginning, it was just kinda pretend. The Rocky metaphors… trying to work up the nerve to be able to catch a ball for a kid… but then once you actually LIVE that stuff… the hard way…. it becomes real. There’s no more pretending or holding out on your feelings. You have to man up and be honest with yourself, and others. That was a “deathbed confession” that happened to me, except without the death. And if I’m gonna say something there, then I better damned well say it to her… finally. That’s called “manning up”.

So yeah, I’m posting this. Right move. No doubt.

I don’t know where y’all found that woman, but I love her. I do. I love you Kara. And this ain’t no fan speaking about a celebrity here. It was NEVER that. Ever. It’s real. Person-to-person. Like it always was. And will be. Overwhelmed with the person since day 1. That’s what it was like. Couldn’t see anything superficial. From the very INSTANT you turned to look at me at the New Era hat stand, “Kara the PERSON” took over everything. Hand to God.

As far as I’m concerned, the fact that it happened in the A’s coliseum and not in some bar or where ever people actually TRY to go out to meet people doesn’t even matter. It’s appropriate. It’s ridiculously appropriate. I love it. I live for this kinda stuff. This is what I live for.

ummm…. I forgot to put some kind of warning message before those video links. I needed to warn about swears and mildly-graphic content descriptions.

It’s ok though because I put a 1-minute annotation on each one with a warning message at the beginning. There’s one “s-word” on the first one before you have a change to read the warning message, but it should be cool.

Funny…. here I am acting worried about the “s-word” when the ones that really devastate me are the “B-word” and “D-word”. I should be putting warning messages on there about those!

Like careful… “boyfriends” and “doctors” are mentioned! The HORROR! :-)

“Overheard from Lew Wolff: ‘This is the first season where I expect to win, not hope to win.'”

Oh I love that. That sounds like a “Plan A’s” attitude right there!

Yep, this Joe’s startin’ to get wise, and he “Schmos” back. It’s so much more fun when the Joe knows, it really is.

But don’t worry, I know I don’t have to be in anyone’s corner anymore *wink*. See I forgot about Rocky V. Rocky wasn’t in Tommy Gunn’s corner the whole time. And he wasn’t the one who asked for the title shot. That’s what I forgot! That was my mistake! (I love how the Rocky metaphors just continue to work perfectly. It’s priceless)

By the way, that was a very risky “Gamble” going into that on one-day notice with no cover-ID. It’s a good thing I’m not a sore loser. But then again, if you don’t believe in playing games with people in the first place, then I guess you can count on that. Everything I said to you… all true.

And did I mention I love this? This is what I live for. Not the bar-hopping. This. This right here. It’s AWESOME!

Ok, now I’m totally convinced. You HAVE to have been looking at me through some kind of crystal ball this entire time and doing something to make all this happen.

Thursday March 4th, 2010 – My main camera breaks down, goes into the shop where it stays too long, forcing me to go to A’s games all season, meet you, yadayada… and everyone knows the rest.

Friday March 4th, 2011 – The biggest, strongest, most definitive coincidence there’s been. It extends the current streak 6-days, continues off of a seed that was planted during “East Meets West” (which was the last one of the 10-day streak of early January), and one-third of it is an “unmentionable”.

Btw, we’re now officially even for “The Look”. Yes we are (not that I mind any).

Because whether or not you actually meant for all this to happen somehow… if, perhaps in the back of your mind, you were actually hoping that something special would happen on the 1-year-anniversary of the fateful day that set all of these events in motion, well guess what…

YOU GOT IT

Certainly! And much like everything else, I did not see this one coming either. No I did NAHT!

Like I said, I’m serious about Charity Videomaking. And Coincidence #13 did it. I was already thinking of making this my first one back because of you, but I didn’t have a charity to raise funds for, so I went with the whole Official Comeback Video instead. Now I don’t care about that. It was just to destroy the idea that I’m just about Goldeneye. That’ll happen when it happens. But right now, there’s something more important to make stuff for.

And that’s why this one suddenly makes it to the top of my videomaking priorities. Spread the word. I’m serious about this.

OH LOOK! It’s the 13th comment too! Honestly… does EVERYTHING have to be so coincidental??? ;-) JESUS!

Or maybe I should say “DeJESUS!” Ohh… the jokes on that one are endless! I have a new favorite player! I’m gonna make jokes about him all season, Kara! I hope you’re ready for them!

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